19 aprile 2013

Compie quindici anni di attività l'etichetta tedesca (ora con sede in Francia) Staubgold e per l'occasione ripubblica in vari formati l'intero catalogo - difficilmente rintracciabile altrimenti - dei 49 Americans, allegra brigata di musicisti, praticanti, parenti stretti e passanti casuali pescati da Andrew Brenner nelle fila del London Musicians' Collective e della scena post-punk londinese dei primi anni ottanta: tra questi Steve Beresford, Lol Coxhill, Max Eastley, Viv Albertine, Vivien Goldman, David Toop e Peter Cusack. Ricorda lo stesso Brenner: "The 49 Americans were an experiment in the pursuit of happiness. We were playing because we wanted to play, because we enjoyed being together and seeing what each other could do; musicians and non-musicians surprising each other. We did not take ourselves seriously, but we were serious about that. In the increasingly global market place, there is less and less room for individuals at the top. So we celebrated, not being at the top, but simply being together. Like the Statue of Liberty we held up a shining torch of self-entertainment! Saying: Have fun! Play! Participate! Everyone should be allowed to be an American. Like it says on the dollars: E pluribus unum!"
A sottolineare l'iniziativa della Staubgold è in programma una festosa rimpatriata, per chi c'è, al Cafe Oto il prossimo 4 giugno: http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/the-49-americans.shtm

This ragtag group is quintessentially the most distilled example of the anything-goes, tear-up-the-rulebook fire of the DIY era that was sparked by the punks, yet ultimately fanned by a cross-section of youths, scholars, and intellectuals who sought to truly create something fresh. The 49 Americans was the brainchild of Andrew Brenner, an American expat in London who ended up assembling the ensemble from members of the city's underground rock community (including members of the Slits and Alternative TV) as well as the London Musicians' Collective, a group who counted among their ranks some of the London area's most talented, innovative, and controversial experimental musicians. Brenner also included a number of his close non-musician friends, and the 'band' set out to simply record for fun; with such a wide stylistic net, they could literally attempt anything, and their enthusiasm and joy is what makes their discography so special - it sounds unlike anything else of its era, though its closest contextual ancestors would probably be the Flying Lizards, mainly due to the key involvement of Steve Beresford and David Toop, both of whom played in the Lizards, as well as their General Strike bedroom dub project.